New York HSI Hub: Building Community College Capacity in Culturally Responsive Professional Development and Grantsmanship

Westchester Community College, Valhalla NY

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this New York HSI Hub project aims to bring about systemic improvements for 14 diverse and highly enrolled New York City area SUNY and CUNY community colleges through a five-year program of professional development, faculty learning communities, and grantsmanship mentoring of STEM faculty. The activities implemented by the Hub will help address challenges community colleges face when attempting to build capacity for institutional change. Moreover, this project will expand the STEM pipeline for students in participating colleges by providing faculty with tools for effective teaching and for pursuing future grant funding to support efforts responsive to student success in STEM. This project aims to strengthen STEM education at the 14 participating colleges by offering a five-year program of a) faculty professional development to advance STEM success for all students at the participating institutions, and b) grantsmanship mentoring to increase the capacity of STEM faculty to competitively pursue NSF HSI funding to further accelerate improvements to programs, faculty practice, and student outcomes. Through workshops and network-building, the project uses Participatory Action Research to help faculty reflect and develop their teaching methods. Results of the project include creating an engaging and impactful classroom experience for community college STEM students, and successful grant development among the 14 participating colleges. Findings on the impacts of Participatory Action Research and grantsmanship training will be disseminated widely through national conferences and webinars. Results will also be disseminated through SUNY and CUNY systemwide meetings and events. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.